Łukašenka turns down request to pardon Russian opposition activist

January 10, BPN. Alaksandr Łukašenka has rejected a petition to pardon convicted Russian national Sofya Sapega (Safija Sapieha), Mediazona reported, quoting her lawyer Anton Hašynski.

Sapega is serving a six-year sentence for administering opposition Telegram channel Chernaya Kniga Belarusi.

She and her boyfriend, Belarusian opposition journalist Raman Pratasievič, were arrested in a Minsk airport on May 23, 2021, after their flight had been forced to land. On June 3, Łukašenka said that Minsk might send Sapega to Russia to serve her sentence.

“We have a procedure, so we can hand over a Russian national to Russia. Let her serve her sentence there. Or let them do whatever they want,” he said. “I think it is a big lesson for her.”

On June 27, Hašynski told BPN that she had asked Łukašenka for pardon.